Touching the Dark
by Dark Starfish
Summary: Bella, Alice, and Rosalie are best friends in high school. They are human girls who have been badly abused for years. Alice gets a vision of vampires arriving to their school. Will the Cullen boys find out their secrets and save them before it's too late?
1. Secretly Abused Girls

**Disclaimer: **Stephenie Meyer owns it all. I have no claim over any of her characters.

**Touching the Dark  
**

_Chapter 1  
_

Secretly Abused Girls

* * *

"Fuck!" She whispered loudly and hissed as she examined the gash on her upper left arm. It was not too big, but it seemed pretty deep. She wondered how far in that knife went. At least the blood had slowed down. She took off the bandage that had been there since last night. It was dirty and she did not want to put it back on again but she did not want the blood to seep through her sleeve either.

She heard someone walk into the bathroom. She got scared and stretched her long sleeve back out again making sure her wound was hidden. She could not hear anything so she began contemplating opening the stall door to check who it was.

"Bella?" she heard a small voice ask.

She sighed in relief, "Oh, Alice, I thought you were someone else."

Alice followed the voice to the stall Bella was in. She pushed it open and saw Bella sitting on the toilet with tears in her eyes. Alice frowned.

"What did he do this time?" Alice said, signaling Bella to lift up her sleeve since Bella was holding onto it as if applying pressure.

"Nothing," Bella closed her eyes and paused, "We had an argument while I was cooking dinner and he shoved me into the counter and I somehow got cut by the knife."

"Bella," Alice sighed, "Was it 'cause you were trying to break up with him again?"

The brunette nodded and began biting her nails, becoming anxious since she knew what was coming. Alice grabbed her bag and opened it. She took out her first aid kit and began to tend to Bella's wound. Even after all the trouble she frequently got herself into, Bella still could not get used to the sight or smell of blood. She began to feel slightly dizzy, struggling not to pass out. Alice noticed this and decided to get Bella's mind off reality.

"Sooner or later, Bella, we're all going to get out of here and we're going to go live someplace where everyone loves us and treats us like royalty, you'll see," Alice began her wishful out-loud thinking. This soothed Bella a lot. No matter what Alice had gone through, she always seemed to have a bright outlook on the future. Bella was trying to smile the entire time hoping that all of Alice's dreams would eventually come true for all of them.

"Ow!" Bella yelped.

"Sorry, but we need to clean it if you want it to heal properly," the pixie girl stated. She left to put the bloody cotton balls in the trash can and walked back to bandage up the cut and put the kit away.

"Thanks, Alice," Bella began, "I don't know what I would do without you."

"No problem. Rosalie might come in soon to see if you're all right. She noticed you did not show up for lunch."

"Oh, yeah, lunch. I almost forgot. I forget to go there sometimes."

Alice smiled slightly and then frowned again, "James not letting you eat again?"

Bella stared back at the small girl. She nodded slowly, "He kind of thinks I'm gaining weight, but it's not so bad, I have to eat with Charlie or else he starts asking questions."

Suddenly, a beautiful blonde girl bursted into the bathroom. She ran towards the stall with fury in her eyes.

"What did that bastard do this time?"

"Rose, calm down," Alice breathed in, "She and James got into a scuffle and she cut her arm with the kitchen knife. I cleaned and bandaged it. It's all right."

"Is he still threatening to hurt Charlie if you say anything to anyone?"

Bella nodded, not really having anything to say that would give them hope that he would eventually stop threatening the Swan family if Bella kept being a "bad girlfriend".

Rosalie punched the stall wall hard and whimpered from the pain. She was especially angry this afternoon and Bella and Alice knew what that meant.

"What did Royce do to you last night?" Alice asked, her eyes full of pain since she could already imagine the torture she had gone through.

"What the hell do you think?" Rosalie spat, "He fucking groped me as he 'tucked me into bed'! Yeah what a great fucking father he is!"

Bella looked away as Rosalie spoke. Alice and Rosalie were like her older sisters, she could not stand to hear all the shit they had to go through, which always seems to be worse than her own problems. She found herself thinking about Alice's dreams once again. One day their princes will come and sweep them away into a world where they would be happy together for the rest of their time. If only that could happen sooner instead of later.

Rosalie stepped away from the stall and went to the sink to throw cold water on her face. She could still feel his hands on her breasts and his kisses on her cheek. She opened up her backpack to reapply her eye make-up.

"Ugh!" she groaned, "I just feel so dirty and gross. I can't hide it from myself! Not even showers or make-up make me feel any better!"

There was a solemn silence between the three girls for a minute or so.

"Lunch will be over soon, we should start heading to class," Alice told the two girls before quietly walking towards the large bathroom door.

"Wait there a minute, missy!" Rosalie held up a finger and Alice stopped halfway. The small girl turned on one foot and faked a smile at her two friends.

"Yes, Rosalie?" Alice asked, the happiness was obviously too forced. Why wouldn't it be, however? She just heard what happened last night to the two best people she's ever met in her life!

Bella stepped outside the stall and readjusted her clothes while staring at Alice, "What happened to YOU last night?"

Alice stared back at Bella and then at Rosalie. The smile disappeared from her face. What was she suppose to tell them? They already knew what her adoptive parents did to her, so did they really need the specifics?

With a sigh Alice responded, "I had a vision again, I saw my dad trip on the stairs and roll down them. I told him to be careful coming down the stairs as soon as I got home from school yesterday. He got angry at me for trying to predict the future again and locked me in my room. When he went back downstairs to eat, he tripped and... rolled down. He, obviously, got more angry and called me a 'fucking freak' like always. He took me out of my room by my hair and threw me in the closet. He kept me there until this morning since I had school."

Bella regretted asking the question, but she knew asking it or not would not have made any of it untrue. They supported each other by having each one talk about their problems at home and hopelessly encourage each other and reassure, to no avail, that everything would be all right.

Rosalie inhaled sharply. She was seething with anger and struggled not to break a mirror. She knew Alice had the power to see the future. It wasn't her trying to be special or different, Alice just WAS special. She had the power that brought them together in the first place and she would be punished for it all the time. Her adoptive parents thought she had a demon inside her or something and would lock her in the closet for hours, days, maybe even weeks to try to get her to stop being such a "freak".

Rosalie could remember it like it was yesterday. It was only a couple of years ago when they were freshmen that they were all in the bathroom at the same time. Rosalie and Bella were tending to their wounds in different stalls and Alice came in, knowing exactly what they were doing and how it felt to be hurt by those you loved. She simply went up to Bella's stall and said out-loud, "Bella, he's gonna keep doing it until you break up with him... successfully. You're gonna get your head knocked into a wall because he's jealous that you're talking to Mike", Alice then walked to Rosalie's stall, "Rosalie, he's gonna touch you again tonight and you won't like it so no matter how hard you want to defend yourself... don't... because he's going to do it even worse and you're gonna regret it."

Bella and Rosalie did not believe Alice at first. Afterall, she was the school reject because she was so odd. Once what she said came true that same night just as she had predicted, however, they sought her out in the school cafeteria and asked her questions about what would happen the next night. Soon, they had become close friends and two and a half years later, they were the secretly abused girls who would deal with everything life threw at them, but they dealt with it together.

"Fucking assholes!" Rosalie yelled out as soon as the bell rang, blending her cry into it.

"It's all right," Alice put a hand on Rosalie's shoulder, "C'mon.. let's go to class."

"Did you guys eat?" Bella made sure her best friends, who were starved more than she was, had gotten a bite to eat for lunch. They had spent most of it in the bathroom. She smiled softly as Alice and Rosalie nodded quietly. Once they stepped out of the bathroom, though, their lives were different. They still acknowledged each other, but they had to keep up with the crowds they were in. Rosalie was the popular, beautiful one who was hated and loved by everyone; Bella was the pretty one with the close-knit circle of friends; and Alice was the cute, fun reject who everyone thought was extremely weird.

Before the three girls went to their separate classes in the middle of the hall, Alice stopped and grabbed their arms firmly. The pixie's eyes glazed over and Bella and Rosalie knew she was having a vision. They stopped and stood in front of Alice to the stares of other classmates, but they did not care. Once Alice's eyes were back to normal they looked at her, confused, wanting to know what she saw.

Alice looked at them with clear fear in her eyes.

"What happened?" Bella finally broke the silence.

"There's new kids coming to the school," Alice explained, "They're different. They're cold and hungry. If we're not careful, they will find out our secrets. They can sense emotions and read thoughts. They call themselves... vampires."

* * *

**Please Review**, anyway, thanks for reading! I hope you like it so far.


	2. Just Another Night

**Disclaimer: **Stephenie Meyer owns it all. I have no claim over any of her characters.

**Touching the Dark  
**

_Chapter 2  
_

Just Another Night

* * *

Bella and Rosalie stared at Alice, they had the same expression of shock and surprise, much like the first day Alice told them about their futures. It took them a while to register what Alice just said in their heads.

"What do you mean...?" Bella gulped. She wished she had heard wrong.

"Did you say 'vampires'?" yelled out Rosalie in the empty hallway. They were already late for class but they did not care.

Alice nodded slowly. It seemed like it was taking her a while to understand what she just said. She could not believe it either. It felt more like a dream than a vision.

"Are you sure?" Bella questioned quietly.

Alice turned away from them and tried to run the vision in her head again. She only saw one figure and she could not make him out clearly. The only thing she could distinctly remember seeing on him were his topaz eyes. They were so beautiful. She also remembered a voice, which said "My brothers and I are vampires... strong... and...reads minds and I feel people's emotions" in a strangely happy tone.

She turned back around to find Bella and Rosalie still standing there waiting for an answer.

"I only saw one guy, he had almost like... golden eyes. Other than that I couldn't really tell what he looked like. He said he and his brothers were vampires and one of them read minds and something about feeling people's emotions and being super strong. I'm not sure about the setting though. I assume he's coming to the school because... how else would I meet him? You girls know all I'm allowed to do is go to school and back home," Alice readjusted her backpack and sighed.

Rosalie huffed. She still had a hard time believing it. Maybe the guy is going to pull a prank on Alice? Maybe he is just toying with her since he'll find out everyone thinks she's weird, he probably just wants to torture her best friend. She did not want to tell Alice that, though, she will just have to wait until this all played out.

"Looks like we're just going to have to be extra careful with our feelings and thoughts then, if these guys ever do come." Rosalie advised hoping they would understand the need for extreme secrecy. "If they found out what our home life is like... I just... I don't know what I would do." She tried not to let her eyes water. If what Alice saw came true and this mind reader and emotion feeler found out their secrets, all hell would most likely break loose. She just didn't want anyone else knowing. She did not want anyone to know at all, but saying that would have meant she would have never gotten to know Alice and Bella.

Bella recovered from the shock of Alice's vision. She was now scared. It was hard enough to put away her thoughts and feelings towards James for five minutes, now she would have to do it for a whole day? There was just no way! All she ever did was think of ways to keep James happy so he wouldn't hit her, ways to hide her scars and bruises from Charlie, ways to eat without James knowing, and when she was not worrying about James she was thinking of what Rosalie and Alice were doing, better yet, of what was being done to Alice and Rosalie.

Alice smiled at them. She was actually a little excited now. She did not recall being scared in the vision. She felt like she was dreaming almost. She did not remember feeling that comfortable around a guy in ages. Whenever the guys at school would talk to her it would usually be because they were mocking her and her powers. Perhaps this new guy was the answer to her fantasies of being treated like royalty. Unknowingly, her smile widened and a sparkle appeared in her eyes.

"It'll be fine. Just relax around them if we see them. Stay focused on your feelings. Try not to think anything bad. We'll help each other. We'll distract each other. I don't know. We'll figure out a way, just think you're super agents and are guarding a very important secret!"

Bella and Rosalie could not help but relax at her words. They nodded. Alice checked her watch, they were almost 15 minutes late for class but she did not care.

"I'll give you guys a ride home later?" Rosalie asked, walking backward to her class.

Alice and Bella confirmed, they usually received rides from Rosalie whenever her dad let her borrow the red convertible. They would wait until everyone had gone home afterschool before hopping into her car. It was not because they did not want to be seen together since they were sure people were starting to see that they have been getting more friendly over the past years, but because the first few times Rosalie brought it everyone in her class seemed to have wanted a ride and Rosalie was no chauffeur.

* * *

The final bell rang and Bella remained seated until everyone else had left the room. She was still thinking about Alice's vision. She was having a hard time believing that actual vampires were coming to the school. Why? Were they coming here to take victims? Or did they really just... want to learn? Would they bother hiding their secret or just reveal to the whole school who they were?

Once everyone had gone out she proceeded to pack her things and head out to the hallway. She looked up and stopped short in her tracks.

"James," she said, hiding her surprise. She did not know he was planning on being with her today. Usually, he would tell her when he wanted to act like a boyfriend so she would be ready for him. He hated waiting for her and if she had known he was coming, she would have been the first one out the door.

"Hey, babe!" He simply replied with that smile of his. She used to fall for it every time, but now she saw right through it.

"I didn't know you were coming," Bella grumbled. She inhaled slowly, she did not want to be afraid of him. She was not going to let him or anyone else think she was scared.

"I'll give you a ride home. I know Charlie isn't home, so we can spend some time together." James' smile widened. Bella simply stared back at him, her face was stoic.

Alice and Rosalie came around the corner of the hallway. They seemed to be the only ones left until they noticed James outside Bella's last class and Bella standing by the doorway. They knew they could not say a word or else James might hurt Bella once the two got home. As always, they had to play it off as if they knew nothing, which hurt them so much because they wanted to save Bella and help her get rid of him. They knew James would find a way to hurt Bella and Bella told them that James even threatened to hurt Charlie. They have tried to convince Bella to tell Charlie what was going on, but Bella thought James would eventually stop treating her so badly. Then by the time things got out of hand, there was no way she'd let Charlie take the blame. She knew he would think everything was his fault since he could not even protect his own daughter. Besides that, he would probably want to kill James in some sort of rage, and Bella could not stand her father having either of those stressors on his conscious.

"Hey Bella, hey James!" squeaked Alice. She walked slowly, giving Bella a worried look that James did not notice.

"Alice... Rosalie." James acknowledged the two girls walking down the hallway. He thought they were hot and sexy. He wished he could get a piece of that, that way he wouldn't have to go through the trouble of picking up random women to have sex with. Sometime soon, though, he planned on forcing Bella to give him some action even if he had to take it from her. Then, hopefully, he could get her to invite her friends too. He was sure some of his own friends would help take care of that.

Rosalie passed by him without even turning in his direction. She could not stand looking at him since it would trigger all the bitter feelings inside her and she might say something she shouldn't. She knew she wasn't giving Bella a ride home today, so she did not bother asking. She waved bye to Bella as she passed, unable to look into her eyes.

Rosalie and Alice went outside and walked across the parking lot to her car.

"I wonder why James decided to suddenly show up?" Rosalie began to rant, "Fucking asshole, I can't believe this shit."

Alice put her seat belt on. It was a nice day today, she wished she could go out and enjoy it with her friends but she could not because Bella wasn't with them.

The engine roared and Rosalie set her MP3 player to shuffle making sure to play "Red Harvest" by Bloodsimple first. Alice could not help but frown a little. She knew Rosalie listened to metal when she was angry, but lately she's been listening to it more and more. Rosalie rarely listened to hard rock when they first met, Alice was afraid that now having the problems of her best friends along with her own were taking a toll on Rosalie's emotions. Alice understood, however, she found herself liking the "angry" kind of music more and more too.

Rosalie sped off down the road towards Alice's house. She could not believe Alice would have to walk all the way home sometimes. Sometimes Bella would give her a ride if she brought her car, which seemed to have been breaking down every other week lately. Rosalie suspected James had something to do with it. He was very possessive of Bella and probably messed with her car just so that she wouldn't be able to go anywhere without him.

Rosalie turned onto Alice's road. She knew she could not drop her off in front of her house so she stopped at the corner. Alice quickly thanked Rosalie with a hug and hopped out of the car. She noticed Alice stop halfway up the stairs, take a deep breath, and walk the rest of the stairs and into her house. Rosalie wondered why Alice stopped so suddenly. She was right on time, maybe even early. Rosalie shifted the car to drive and gunned it home.

Alice closed the door behind her. She had gotten a short vision halfway up the stairs. All she saw was black. She knew what that meant.

* * *

Bella shifted in the passenger seat of James' mustang. Only James' and Rosalie's family would ever be able to afford cars like this. That's probably because their fathers ran the huge timber companies that are in town. They provided people with most of the jobs.

"So, Bella, what do you want to do today?" James grabbed Bella behind the neck. This meant he wanted to pull her in for a kiss, but he felt her resist. His grip tightened when she took too long to respond.

Bella winced at the pain on her neck and leaned over to peck James on the lips. He continued to drive down the road with one hand on the steering wheel as he took a fistful of Bella's hair to bring her back for another kiss. He forced her mouth open and shoved his tongue inside.

"James, please, watch the road!" Bella begged, pushing against his chest. He let her go and put the other hand back on the wheel. She knew she was going to get it when they got home, but she did not want to kiss him. She hated being intimate with someone she did not want to be intimate with!

They pulled up to her driveway and James parked the car. He got out, Bella quickly followed. She opened her door and they walked inside. She wondered what time Charlie was getting home today. He would sometimes take extra shifts at work, she figured maybe she should start cooking just in case Charlie got home soon. She walked to the kitchen and opened the cupboards to get pots and pans.

"What are you doing?" asked James, it wasn't a question though. She knew he meant 'I don't remember giving you permission to cook'.

"I was just going to cook for Charlie." Bella continued to take out things she might need.

"No." James grabbed her wrists and turned her around to look at him.

"James, let me go!" Bella screamed at him.

James forcefully pulled her to the living room and pushed her onto the couch. She sat down with a huff and tried to get back up but James pushed her back down.

"You owe me a kiss," he growled and crushed his lips onto hers. She tried to push him back but he was too strong. He was lean but very muscular and having him trying to put his weight on her was no help. She kept her lips shut, afraid they would get bruised from James' attack. He lifted her shirt halfway so her stomach was showing and began to dig his nails into her side. She opened her mouth to scream and he used the opportunity to shove his tongue inside. Bella struggled against the forming tears in her eyes. She bit down on his tongue.

"You bitch! What kind of a girlfriend are you?" He bellowed. He grabbed her arm where the cut was and ripped the bandage off, then he put too much pressure on the cut and pulled it open. Blood began oozing out once again. Bella yelped and tried to smack him, but he grabbed her wrists and placed them at her sides. She felt like she was about to fall off the couch. He began to bite her stomach, which caused her to bite her own tongue so she wouldn't scream. He began to unbutton her jeans and she kicked wildly, hitting him in the chest. Bella was confused when he noticed that he did not hit her back.

"Go get cleaned up, you look like shit," he looked around for the remote for the television.

Bella got up and ran to the bathroom. She wondered why he stopped? What time was it? That was when he heard voices downstairs.

"Hey, James!" said Charlie. He had come home.

"Hey, Charlie. How was work?" The bastard replied in his most innocent voice. The voice she used to fall for time and time again.

"You bring Bella home from school?"

"Yeah, she's upstairs. She had to stay after school for a bit so we just got home, that's why she hasn't made dinner yet."

"Oh, that's all right, I'm not that hungry yet."

Bella shut the door to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't look too bad on the outside, except for the bruises and the blood coming out of her cut. She disinfected everything including every place James bit her. She bandaged her cut and quickly changed her shirt in her room before walking down the stairs.

"Hey, Charlie," she greeted him cheerfully.

"Hey, how was your day?"

"Just fine," replied the helpless girl.

* * *

They were all sitting together eating pasta. Alice made sure to stay out of her parents' way. She did not want them to get angry at her for some reason. She sat down at the opposite end of the table and took small bites of her food, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"It was so nice out today," said Alice's mother, "I hope it's that nice tomorrow."

"What did the weather lady say?" Alice's father asked. He was big, strong, and had a gruff voice.

Alice already knew it was going to rain tomorrow, rather unexpectedly too. She guessed the weather forecast was going to be wrong.

"Well, I'll check the news." Alice's mother turned the television that they had in the dining room on and changed it to the news channel. After nearly ten minutes of waiting, the weather lady said it would be basically the same as it was today.

"That's so nice! I'm so glad I don't need to bring an umbrella!" Alice's mother had finished her plate and walked up to put it in the sink.

Alice could not help but say something. It was in her nature to help others and give them advice, tell them what would happen if she knew. She felt obligated to do it, there had to be a reason she received this gift of hers.

"Mom, no, it's going to rain," Alice hesitated.

"No, she said it wasn't," stated Alice's father.

"It's going to rain, the weather forecast is wrong." Alice defended loudly. She saw her father get up and grab her by the arm, ripping her away from her chair. She was only halfway through her food by then.

"How the hell would you know?" He bellowed into her face.

Alice's mom looked at her angrily. "Why can't you just keep quiet!" She cried, hating seeing her husband so angry.

Then Alice felt a sharp pain on her cheek from being slapped, was dragged up the stairs, and was thrown into the dreaded closet. She felt the back of her head collide into the back wall and heard the lock click. The lock was installed just to make sure Alice did not get out at night while they were asleep. Her father probably thought the dark would make Alice stop by conditioning her to be afraid of visions because she knew what the punishment would be.

Alice sat down with her knees to her chest and tried her hardest not to lose it and began pounding on the door. She hated the dark, but now she had something to get her through the night. She imagined those topaz eyes and wished her prince would come and get her.

* * *

Rosalie had just gotten out of her shower, she was drying her hair with a towel and decided to spend the rest of her night reading some new romance novel she picked up. She went into her room, making sure to lock the door before she changed into sweats and a large shirt. She turned back around to see Royce standing there.

"Royce? How?" Rosalie gasped. She was sure she locked the door!

"I learned how to pick that thing a long time ago, sweetie, just in case I need you," Royce made known, walking up to her and putting his hand on her cheek. Rosalie wished she had a mother to protect her, but she left right before Rosalie's tenth birthday. Rosalie wished her mother had taken her too. If she only knew what he was doing to her every other night. She couldn't even call him "father" anymore.

"I need to get to sleep, I have a lot to do at school tomorrow," she said firmly, pushing his hand away.

"Just a quickie, c'mon," he responded huskily.

"No!" she screamed as he pushed her onto the bed and climbed on top of her. He immediately began groping her everywhere underneath her shirt, she hit his back as hard and she could and tried to wriggle herself free. He paid no attention to her squirming and continued to touch her, slipping his hand into her pants. She held back her tears as he put his fingers inside her. She finally slapped his face, but it only seemed to turn him on more. He got so into it that he forgot about her legs, so she used the chance to kick him in the groin. He doubled over from the pain and she got up and ran.

She did not know where to go, thinking fast she grabbed the keys to the convertible. She was glad she managed to remember where she left them. She ran to the garage, making sure to lock the door behind her, and climbed in without even opening the door. She opened the garage door and sped away. She headed north, driving as fast as she could. She turned the radio on, regretful that she forgot her music player because she could have really used it at the moment. She would drive the rest of the night if she had to, knowing her father would get up to go to work early, so she could return home to get her stuff and fix herself before going to school. Some tears managed to escape her and blurred her vision a little. After a few minutes, she calmed down enough to notice a shiny silver Volvo zoom past her headed in the opposite direction.

* * *

**Please Review**, your reviews really inspire me to write. Just look at how much longer this chapter was! Thanks to those five people that have reviewed so far!


	3. New Hope

**Disclaimer: **Stephenie Meyer owns it all. I have no claim over any of her characters.

**Touching the Dark  
**

_Chapter 3  
_

New Hope

* * *

"Wow, how long has it been since the last time?" asked the biggest of them all who was talking to the two guys in the front seats.

"Esme told me you guys haven't been here since like the 40s" replied the honey blond-haired boy in the passenger seat.

"Oh, man, you're gonna love it here, it's very peaceful, and it rains all the time so we can play baseball!"

The two guys talking felt the car slow down, the driver was at over 100 MPH but they noticed he released his foot from the gas pedal and made a concentrated face.

"Edward, what is it?" asked the big brother.

"You feel that, Jazz?" asked Edward who slowed down to the speed limit. He could hear these rapid thoughts, he could barely make some out, they were simply being thought of too fast for him to hear it all. It was as if a hundred people were thinking them at once but he could tell it was just one person.

"Yeah, I feel it," said the empath. He felt a huge wave of confusion, disgust, worry, and a deep, dark sadness hit him. These were simply too many emotions at once and he was not used to it, it almost physically hurt him to feel them as he felt his heart ache for this person.

"What are you guys talking about?" asked the guy in the back seat and in that single moment his entire life changed as the red convertible zoomed by. His vampire senses allowed him to see everything in perfect detail including the driver who was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life. Everything, including the pain in her eyes took his breath away. He immediately wondered who she was and wished he had the guts to ask Edward to turn the car around, but she was human and he could not exactly chase after her. What exactly was he going to do if he caught up to her? Nothing, there was nothing he could do that wouldn't scare her away except hope that he would eventually see her again.

Jasper was holding himself until the girl in the red car was far enough away for him to not feel her anymore. Edward had begun to speed up again, but he was too busy thinking about the girl to notice he was driving at over 125 MPH. He couldn't catch all her thoughts or make sense of the ones he did since a lot were nearly half sentences. He remembered seeing faces, however, of two girls and one man. The man was handsome, tall, older yet had this look in his eyes that made him want to cringe thinking about it. The two girls, although, had the same pained look in their eyes that the girl in the car did. They were beautiful, and he remembered one having dark chocolate eyes that he wanted to look into forever.

"Wow." Jasper and Edward looked at Emmett whose mouth was still wide open at the sight of the broken angel. Edward did not need to read his mind to know what Emmett was thinking. He could tell Emmett really wanted to go back and help her.

"She's in trouble, huh?" Emmett finally asked and broke the awkward silence.

Edward and Jasper nodded slightly as the car turned into their home's road.

"She's in a lot of pain, more than I think a human can bear," replied Jasper in deep thought. He did not know what to make of the sudden rush of feelings. Something was obviously hurting her, but the possibilities as to what could be endless yet he couldn't imagine many things that would make all those kind of emotions so strong at once.

_We should have stopped to help her_, Emmett yelled in his head as they parked the car in the garage.

"There was nothing we could have done," replied Edward quickly. "What did you want us to do? Get into a car chase? Scare the hell out of her by having three guys tailing her all night?"

"No," Emmett shook his head in anger and disappointment and opened the car door while staring at his brother, "but you can't expect me to not consider my options!"

"You can look at it a hundred different ways, but you know there was nothing we could have done at the time that wouldn't have involved us putting her into more stress."

"Yeah, but -" began Emmett.

"But it's too late now!" Jasper cut him off before his brothers got into an unnecessary argument. "If we did go back to help her, we wouldn't know where she is now or where she was going, and it looked to me like she was more than willing and unafraid to go at top speed in that car she was in, she's long gone by now."

Emmett sighed and nodded to Jasper that he was right. He headed toward the door of their house. Edward and Jasper followed.

The boys went into their home and were greeted by Esme and Carlisle who were watching a movie together. They had moved in a week earlier to set things up while the boys stayed in Alaska with the Denali clan for a little while longer. Most of the things they needed were already here from the last time, they simply needed to buy new things to update the place. Carlisle started his new job at the hospital and Esme had already set up the boys' room the way they had it in Denali. She was glad vampires didn't need much so the move was fairly easy.

"How was the drive?" asked Esme as she got up to hug each of them.

"It was all right," said Edward, "We told Jasper how much fun we were going to have and Emmett is already making bets about how many home runs he's going to be hitting."

"Too bad, I'll be the one that will be hitting those home runs," Jasper announced.

Emmett smiled for the first time in a while, "Haha! That's what you think!"

"Hey! We all know I'll have ran around those bases five times before you guys even have any idea where the ball went!" Added in Edward with a smirk.

Esme laughed and Carlisle smiled at his boys then he noticed how dark their eyes were getting, "You three should go hunting, you all have school tomorrow morning."

The boys nodded and headed outside for the night. Since they were in the mood to compete they began to make bets outside for who could catch a deer, climb a tree, or crush a boulder the fastest. However, Emmett could not help but think about the girl. What was she getting away from? Who hurt her?

"Hey, Emmett, you're so slow!" taunted Jasper causing him to snap out of his thoughts. Edward and Jasper knew why he was so distracted. They knew Emmett was a ladies' man but he genuinely seemed to care for this girl and not just because she had a pretty face.

"You think I'll see her at school?" asked Emmett without looking at them.

"There's only one way to find out," answered Jasper as he bit into his second deer.

"She was young and she was heading away from here, so she must live here along with whatever she was running away from," guessed Edward.

"Did you manage to read her mind?" Emmett asked.

"It didn't really make sense," Edward sighed and crossed his arms, "she kept asking herself what she did wrong and something about 'the guy who should be taking care of her'."

Emmett was now in deep thought and his brothers watched him walk away and begin to climb a tree. He did not stop until he was at the very top. Perhaps she broke up with her boyfriend? Or maybe she caught him cheating on her? What else could possibly cause a girl to be that upset? He continued to stay up there all night and stared at the stars hoping that wherever the girl was now that she was all right.

* * *

Rosalie passed the silver Volvo and then sped up, she had no idea what she was going to do once she got to Port Angeles. She put the top on her car as she noticed how cold it was. It seemed like Royce was now days away as she saw Port Angeles. She found a nice secluded area and parked her car, she turned her heater all the way up and reclined her seat back. She turned her head slightly so she can look out the window and up at the stars. She thought about Bella and Alice, she wondered if they had better nights than she did and they were safe and sound in their beds without any new bruises or scratches to show tomorrow.

She turned the car off once it was getting hot and closed her eyes for well needed rest. She hoped she woke up early enough to head home to shower after her father had gone to work. She did not want to be late for school and have to explain why to her friends. She simply wanted to forget, she wanted to escape, she wished she could keep driving without looking back but she would never leave her friends like that. Tomorrow would just be another day and another night of facing him again and hoping he didn't try anything new. That was just it thought, she was tired of hoping for him not to do anything, tired of hoping that her friends did not get hurt. She wished her mom was still there to protect her, she wished she had anyone there to protect her. She needed something new to hope for, she wanted her prince to finally show up and save her.

She slowly drifted to a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Edward and Jasper had finished hunting and had gone inside for the night. Edward was in his room, rearranging his things that he brought, and listening to his music. He thought about the face of the brunette girl with the gorgeous brown eyes again. He wondered who she was and why the girl in the convertible was thinking about her. Did these people get hurt? Or were they the ones that hurt the blond? There was no way they were the culprits, they had the same pain in their eyes. He hoped he would see her in the flesh soon enough.

He knew his brother, Emmett, was still outside somewhere probably beating himself up over the blond. They haven't even been in Forks for a day and so much had already changed. He could not wait to go to school tomorrow and see if maybe this girl was there and see if maybe he could help her.

* * *

Rosalie woke up around 5:15 A.M. to the sound of thunder. She felt well rested and slightly better, but she knew she would feel great with a shower. She got out of the car before the rain began to fall and stretched her arms and legs out. The BMW was a great car but it was no queen sized bed. She went back in and turned it on, after finding the right road to heading back home she sped towards her house. The rain began to pour down a few minutes into her drive.

"What a great way to start the day, with a nice long drive in the rain." She smirked slightly at the open road ahead. She knew she needed to be extra careful in the rain, but she liked the danger of going at 115 MPH on a wet road.

Once she got home, she pushed the remote button for the garage door and was happy to see that her father's car was no longer there. It was about 6 A.M. so she had time for a nice long shower. She grabbed her clothes for the day and took them to the bathroom with her. She turned the water on and made sure it was pretty hot since the steam would relax her. She showered and made sure to scrub certain areas extra hard.

After a while, she was ready to head for school, she even planned on stopping by Bella's and Alice's to see if they wanted a ride since it was pouring rain outside. She made sure to take her MP3 player with her this time and made sure to play "Ordinary Day" by Vanessa Carlton as she turned on her BMW and headed out.

She stopped by Alice's first since she lived closer, she noticed Alice was already halfway down her block in a raincoat. She beeped at her Alice looked up and waved happily. She ran around the car and climbed into the passenger seat.

"Hey, Rosalie!" She exclaimed, giving her a hug and putting her bag between her feet.

Rosalie smiled at her and zoomed towards Bella's place.

"How was your night?" gulped Alice turning towards Rosalie.

"Meh, not bad," replied Rosalie, avoiding eye contact and staring at the windshield wipers battle the rain at the red light they were at. Alice knew what that meant but she did not want to pressure Rose into saying anything if she didn't want to.

A few minutes later they had arrived at Bella's place and noticed Bella getting out of her house in a rush. She seemed to be running a little late. Rosalie pulled up and Bella noticed the red BMW, which caused a huge smile to appear on her face. She ran in the rain and hopped into the back seat. She was glad she did not have to drive in this weather.

"The rain is extra hard today," complained Bella, "I hope I didn't make a mess in your car with my dirty shoes, Rose."

"It's all right, I can get the car detailed later."

Alice turned to look at Bella and asked her how her night was. Bella simply shrugged and smiled at her. Alice nodded. It was silent for a few moments until Alice noticed something.

"Oh, man! My bookbag is all wet!" shrieked Alice causing the other two girls to jump from the sudden outburst and then laugh.

"I wonder if anything exciting is going to happen at school today," began Bella with a sigh.

"Well, maybe those vampires will be there," chimed Alice.

The vampires! Rosalie and Bella had almost forgotten. They were suppose to have their minds closed just in case. They were glad they were in a good mood, so it was going to be easier to do it.

"That would definitely be exciting then," admitted Bella, not sure if she wanted Alice's vision to come true or not. She knew Alice was excited about it, she wasn't sure on Rose's thoughts though.

"Remember to not think any bad thoughts," Rosalie reminded them all. She hoped Alice was right like always, perhaps their princes have come. Perhaps she and her friends can escape from this life.

The other girls nodded as the car turned into the school parking lot.

* * *

"You weren't joking about this rain!" Jasper chuckled in the back seat of Edward's Volvo.

"Yeah, that's Forks for you! Never fails to disappoint you when it comes to rain!" Emmett laughed.

"I guess we're here!" announced Edward as he pulled into the school parking lot.

"I'm kinda nervous to go in there," admitted Jasper.

"Aww, it's all right, man, Edward and I will take care of you if you think you can't handle the smell, you just fed last night though so I think you'll be fine!"

"Thanks, guys."

Edward shifted the car to park, they were a little early but they had to be in order to get their class schedules and figure out where their classes were. They got out of the car and into the school. None of them got the chance to notice the red BMW pull up or notice the three troubled girls inside it.

* * *

**Please Review! :)**


	4. First Day

**Disclaimer: **Stephenie Meyer owns it all. I have no claim over any of her characters.

**Touching the Dark  
**

_Chapter 4  
_

First Day

* * *

Rosalie shifted the car to park and turned it off. The three girls sat quietly together for a moment and admired each others' company in complete silence.

"I don't know..." Bella sounded worried but cut herself off. She looked outside the window and noticed a silver Volvo she had never seen before.

Rosalie and Alice turned around to look at her with puzzled looks and looked toward the area she was gazing at. They noticed the new car also.

"I don't know how I'm gonna do this, how I'm gonna keep my mind off of things," Bella finally admitted.

Alice smiled at her while Rosalie nodded in agreement and concern. Rosalie let out a huff and looked back toward the front, she concentrated on the windshield wipers beating the rain off the glass and managed to catch blurry glimpses of the school entrance.

"Just think happy thoughts," said the pixie girl. Bella glanced at her dishearteningly. "Hmm," Alice put her finger to her lips trying to think of an example of a happy thought.

"Just think about what your life would be like if James was actually the perfect guy, you have to make these vampires think you're in love with him so they don't ask questions about how you have a boyfriend and yet never talk about him... or... think about him." Rosalie had never looked more serious before as she explained what they all needed to do.

"Yeah, like I need to pretend that my parents don't lock me up in a closet." Alice's eyes sparkled as she began to make up this life for herself in her imagination.

Bella nodded and began to forge a different life in her head. James was the perfect boyfriend and he and her dad got along great. After school they would both cook for Chief Swan together and he would hold her afterward while she read her favorite book. He would take her out to La Push where they would hang out with her best friend, Jacob, and have the best time.

_That's good, right?_ she asked herself. She was fairly satisfied and yet disgusted by these new thoughts of James but she had to keep thinking this all day... everyday. The truth was that James had forbidden her to see Jacob, anytime he would come around James would threaten to hurt him and she would have to turn him away. Jacob had an idea as to what was going on but he also knew there was nothing much he could do without risking Bella's safety, so he kept his distance as much as possible while making sure to show her that he had not forgotten about her.

Rosalie struggled to do the same, it was hard to picture her father acting like he was supposed to without going back to what he was really like. She tried to think about what the good dads in movies and shows she has seen were like and tried to make a whole new father out of those bits and pieces. He was rich and spoiled her and they went shopping together. Other than that, he was too busy working. In the end she knew it would be easier for him NOT to be there than for her to think about what he did when he was there.

Alice had the best imagination of all of them. She managed to make her parents as quirky and fun-loving as her, they would watch movies and cook exotic food together. Then they would act out plays at night as long as Alice did not have too much homework. They also went shopping and her parents allowed her to dress them up every once in a while in expensive clothes and go out for a night in Port Angeles.

The rain had calmed down a bit for a moment. It was now or never, their first day at school with their new imaginary lives. Alice was the first to open her door and the two girls followed quickly getting their belongings and running into the school. They couldn't help but smile at each other once they were inside. They walked together down the hall towards their lockers.

* * *

"Well, hello, you three gentlemen must be Edward, Emmett, and Jasper," said Mrs. Cope, the secretary in the Forks High office.

"Yes, ma'am!" exclaimed Emmett grabbing the class schedule that she handed out to each of them. He looked around the room, everything seemed just like any other high school office with the wire trays full of paper and the principal's office.

"Here are your locker numbers, and locker combination numbers," she handed each of them another slip of paper. "They should be located at the end of the hall," she smiled and pointed them in the right direction, "but before you boys leave you MUST tell me your mother's secret! She looks so young!" Esme came earlier to enroll the boys in school and any person who saw her stared at her beauty and grace in disbelief. They couldn't believe she had children old enough for high school.

"Oh, that, well we're adopted, so that's her secret," Jasper smiled at the secretary who breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, that explains a lot, I think she mentioned something about that but I was too busy wondering what it was that I must have missed it when she said it!" She laughed and they smiled, "Well go along now, if you need any help just ask me but every student here is friendly, I'm sure they'll be more than willing to help also."

"Thank you," said Edward, trying his best to block the thoughts now rushing around him as he heard a rush of students pull up in cars. He could tell they were all excited to meet the new students at school and many of the girls were wondering how cute they would be. He looked down at his schedule to distract himself. He had Calculus, Government, English, Gym, then lunch, followed by Biology and Spanish. He knew all his classes were easy, he had taken them many times and nothing ever changed much except for new discoveries in Biology and current events in Government.

The three boys left the office and walked to their classes. Emmett went to Government and Jasper reluctantly walked to English, they stepped outside to go to the different buildings.

"See you at lunch," Jasper whispered knowing they would hear even though they were several feet away already. Emmett gave Edward a sly smile as a group of girls walked past them giggling.

"Oh my gosh, they're so hot!" whispered one of the girls to her friends. Edward groaned in his mind but couldn't help shaking his head and smirking in their direction. He continued on his way to Calculus with his fair share of girls introducing themselves and asking him what classes he had just in case they had any with him. Not even rain seemed to stop them from flirting, then again, they were used to it.

* * *

Bella, Rosalie, and Alice waited in the cafeteria until class started. Alice was quickly writing up her homework for her first class of the day, Calculus, while Rosalie listened to her music player. Bella opened up the book she was currently reading and decided to get a few pages in. They were all trying to distract themselves from their bad thoughts and from the day to come. Once they heard the noises of students walking in, they gathered their things, put on their raincoats, and said their goodbyes.

"Hey, Bella!" Mike Newton waved as he ran to class. She waved back and picked up her pace and she heard thunder crack in the sky. Along the way, she overheard a group of girls, Sasha, Janice, and Sabrina, walking towards her and talking about how the new boys were hot. Sasha mentioned something about brushing up against one of them and nearly dying while Sabrina said she saw them first and that they were all hers. They proceeded to fight over them as if they were all more than willing to be with any one of them in the first place. Then the three girls separated and went to their separate classes.

Bella managed to get to her English class just as the rain unleashed itself once again. She hung up her her coat and took her seat.

* * *

Emmett headed to his Government class, once he was inside the teacher, Mr. Greene, greeted him and waited for him to take off his coat before he handed him his textbook. Mr. Greene asked him to wait a few minutes in the front of his class so he could introduce him once the bell rang. Every girl that walked in flashed him their best smile and every guy was astonished at his size and felt completely intimidated.

The bell rang and Mr. Green cleared his throat. "This is Emmett Cullen, he and his two brothers are new today at school so let's all make sure they feel welcomed."

Emmett waved sheepishly, unsure of what to do.

"Go ahead, take a seat wherever you want." Mr. Greene extended his arm toward the rest of the room. Emmett nodded and sat near the back of the class, which wasn't very far from the teacher anyway. There was an empty seat next to him He opened up his textbook to look at the pictures in it, funny how every textbook ever decides to use the same pictures as if they were the only ones in existence. The captions were never too creative either.

He inhaled sharply through his nose out of boredom and that was when he smelled a sweet perfume. He looked up and noticed a beautiful blond girl walk in with her coat in her hand. It was like all sound drowned out of the room, he watched her as she and the teacher exchanged words and sat down at the desk next to his. She took off her other earphone and turned off her music players, putting it in her bag and taking out her folder and textbook.

It was her. It was the angel from the red car.

* * *

Rosalie quickened her stride even though she knew she was going to be late. She did not really care and Mr. Greene was lenient especially since it was the first class period of the day. She opened the door and walked inside, taking off one earphone and hanging up her coat.

"Sorry I'm late," she mumbled, not meaning it at all. She had a rough night, she should be encouraged to take her time to get to class if she wanted to. She cut herself off from getting any further with her thoughts and went to her seat. The mood she was in made her oblivious to the new boy next to her. She turned off her music player and took out her homework. Tucking back a strand of her hair, her eyes shifted to her left where she saw him staring back at her. She stopped breathing from astonishment. He was absolutely gorgeous: the short hair, the large stature, the topaz eyes, they were all so surreal in their beauty. She couldn't help but gaze into his eyes. She felt like she was looking into them for hours until a girl's voice broke the spell she was under.

"Hi," whispered the girl who had turned around to talk to the new boy. "I'm Janice," she introduced herself with a flip of her honey blond hair. She had green eyes full of interest and hope that made Rosalie jealous. Janice was not ugly, she was very pretty, and many boys in school were more than willing to go out with her. Of course, Rosalie did not know if it was because Janice almost always said yes in hopes of becoming more popular than Rosalie or because they actually liked her for her, to state the truth Janice wasn't the brightest bulb in the room. Then again, Janice has had several boyfriends unlike Rosalie who has never had even one. So perhaps her popularity stemmed from her reluctance to get close to any boy, she knew boys liked a challenge and who better to fight over than the prettiest, richest, hard-to-get girl in the town?

She remembered how in freshman year there were rumors that Rosalie had a boyfriend in Seattle. She was actually happy about this because people were starting to think there was something wrong with her. Oh, boy! If they only knew the reality of her home life!

"Emmett," said the gorgeous boy, seemingly uninterested in the girl.

"Well, Emmett," began Janice, "if you need any help getting adjusted just ask me, here's my number," she purred, handing him a piece of paper.

While Emmett was looking at the piece of paper, Janice looked over at Rosalie and winked at her. Rosalie could feel her blood begin to boil, not really knowing why she was letting Janice get to her.

"Umm.. thank you," replied Emmett, trying not to let any of his thoughts that this girl was probably the school slut slip out in one of his usual comments. He could smell the amount of boys she spent her time with radiating off her body. He felt uncomfortable for some reason, he knew the angel next to him was listening to their conversation, he didn't want Rosalie to think he was interested in Janice. He did not want to ruin his chances.

"No problem," Janice smiled at him before turning back around before Mr. Greene noticed she was flirting and not just welcoming the new boy in town.

Emmett sat back on his chair and glanced over to Rosalie's direction. She had begun to distract herself by doodling on her folder. He couldn't form words in his mouth, if he was human he would be sweating like a pig right now. He was Emmett! He was smooth, funny, strong, and not afraid of anything! Especially a human girl. He could get anyone he wanted, vampire or human, and do it just by saying something funny and making them laugh.

He looked around for a reason to talk to her. He noticed Mr. Greene was writing something on the board. Emmett turned to his right and leaned over to Rosalie.

"Hi," he gulped when she didn't look up but kept doodling on her folder.

"Umm...hello?" Emmett whispered a little louder. The girl stopped doing what she was doing and looked up.

"Hi," she uttered. She tossed her hair to her right side so she could see him better. He breathed in her scent and smiled at her.

"I'm Emmett," he held out his hand, afraid of letting her touch him, yet completely overwhelmed with the need to touch her warm skin.

Rosalie stared at his hand in surprise. He was so pale everywhere and his eyes were just like Alice described. She wanted to know just how cold he was but afraid to confirm to herself that she was sitting next to a vampire. She reached out and quietly gasped as her hand was surrounded by ice. Alice was right, they were vampires. Were they here to save them? Rosalie couldn't help but smile.

"I'm Rosalie," her voice wavered a little.

_Rosalie... so beautiful_, Emmett thought.

"Rosalie," repeated Emmett. She loved the way her name sounded coming from his tongue. She couldn't help but smile at him.

"Listen," he leaned in a bit closer, "I don't have any paper. Can I have a sheet preferably with YOUR number on it?" He smiled at her and winked as he said the last part loudly. Rosalie could tell that Janice overheard because she shifted angrily in her seat. She reached into her bag and pulled out her notebook. She wished she could give him her number but there was no way she would be able to have a relationship with him. If Royce knew she was sneaking around, he would...

"Here you go," she stated simply, marking the beginning of the hardest hard-to-get game she ever played.

Emmett was disappointed to receive a blank sheet of lined paper but accepted it either way and thanked her. They both relaxed back into their seats and acted as if they were paying attention to Mr. Greene, not knowing that each of them was thinking about the other. The bell rang and Rosalie did not hesitate to put her earphones back on and blast her music on her way to her next class, making sure to turn in her homework on Mr. Greene's desk before she walked out the door.

"She has good taste," Emmett said to himself as he concentrated to what she was listening to, hearing it very clearly with his sharp senses.

* * *

Bella was at her seat in her English class when Jasper walked in looking very scared.

_What does he have to be scared about?_, Bella wondered. He was the one who was the vampire.

As soon as he walked in, Jasper sensed a wave of excitement that overwhelmed him. He guessed new students didn't come to Forks very often. He could hear girls whispering to one another and giggling, but he also detected a feeling of nervousness radiating from the brunette by the window. He took his seat on the other side of the class in the back and was bombarded by girls asking for his name and introducing themselves.

Bella was one of the few girls that didn't get out of their way to get to know him. He appreciated it, but couldn't help but wonder what she was so worried about. It was times like these when he wished he could read people's thoughts but at the same time thoughts could be false while emotions were almost impossible to hide.

"Umm, Jasper!" exclaimed the teacher, "You may have the honor of getting the male lead, now you must pick your love interest."

Suddenly, all the girls in the class except for Bella were raising their hands and begging Jasper to pick them. He disliked having this much attention on his first day of school that he immediately picked the platinum blond girl next to him who had introduced herself as Sabrina.

Throughout the period, Bella tried her hardest not to look into Jasper's direction or think in her head that she knew what he was. In order to distract herself she took out the book she was reading and put her textbook over it. She made it seem like she was following along with the play the class was reading out loud, but the play did not interest her enough to get distracted by it.

While Jasper did not have any lines to read he could not help but wonder why the brown-haired girl on the other side seemed so scared by him.

_Perhaps, she's just shy_, he finally concluded, taking his mind off of her for the remainder of the class.

* * *

Once Alice had said bye to her friends she ran over to Calculus, wanting the extra time to finish the last problem. She turned the corner and felt like she hit a brick wall. Before she hit the floor, she felt a pair of ice cold hands save her. She looked up to see who it was and found topaz eyes staring back at her in concern.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there," she apologized, holding her head. That was going to be sore tomorrow. Why didn't she see it coming? She was usually good at avoiding accidents using her powers.

"No need to be sorry, you're more hurt than me," replied a charming voice. Was this the boy from her vision?

_He looks a little different_, she thought before stopping herself and focusing back on her Calculus problem. She shook her head, trying to get her thoughts of the vision out of it.

"I'm Edward," articulated the boy who nearly knocked her head off. _I look a little different?_, he thought. What does she mean? He tried to focus on her thoughts again but the girl had suddenly shifted her concentration on something else. _She must have hit herself harder than I thought_, he stated to himself in concern.

"Alice." The pixie girl with the short spiky black hair straightened out her clothes and stared at him, this made Edward uncomfortable because the whole time her thoughts were mixed with Calculus and thoughts of golden eyes. He couldn't make sense of either one of them.

Sasha then arrived at the entrance to the class and stopped in front of Alice to introduce herself to Edward, nearly knocking her out of her way.

"I'm Sasha," said the redhead, after clearing her throat. Alice looked at Sasha's back and rolled her eyes, but went into the classroom to finish her homework.

Edward watched Alice go inside while realizing she was trying to hide her thoughts on the redhead in front of him. He did manage to catch a few curse words spring out from her thoughts.

"Edward," he stated, glancing at her and then back in Alice's direction. Sasha noticed him looking at Alice. She was amazed that a man as good-looking as Edward would be interested in a weird girl like that.

"Don't worry about Alice," Sasha caught his attention by saying the girl's name, "She was weird before she bumped into you, if anything, you probably helped fix her brain."

Edward pushed back the snarl that nearly escaped his throat. He walked inside, not really caring if he had said a proper goodbye to the girl whose thoughts were full of malice and selfishness. He stepped inside and searched for Alice.

* * *

**Please, Please, Please, Please, Review! **Thanks to the coolest girl I know, SleepovrMassacre, for editing and critiquing my stuff before I post it up!


	5. First Encounters

**Disclaimer: **Stephenie Meyer owns it all. I have no claim over any of her characters.

**Touching the Dark  
**

_Chapter 5  
_

First Encounters

* * *

Edward searched around the room and found the pixie-haired girl in the center seat. He quickly decided to take a seat behind her before someone claimed it for the period. He realized as soon as he bumped into her that she was one of the girls from the thoughts he picked up from the blonde girl in the red car last night. He didn't know why he felt slightly disappointed that it wasn't the girl with the dark chocolate eyes, however. He found himself secretly hoping she was close by.

He watched as more people walked through the door and placed sheets of paper on the teacher's desk before going to their seats. He listened in on Alice's thoughts as she was concentrating on the last problem of her homework. As soon as she stopped calculating and got up to place her homework on the desk, her thoughts were replaced with singing. She was singing loudly in her head and envisioning herself in the woods dancing in circles.

Edward couldn't help but smile at her thoughts. Jasper would really like to be around this girl, he told himself, she just emanates fun and happiness. It would definitely do him a world of good to befriend her.

Once Alice returned to her seat, she wasted no time in getting to know the vampire sitting behind her. She was actually very excited that they were here. All these years, she waited for something, someone to save her and her friends and they have finally come. She beamed her smile at him and continued to sing songs in her head loud enough to hopefully hide the thoughts she was REALLY thinking.

"How do you like Forks?" Alice asked excitedly. She put the end of her pencil close to her mouth as if in deep thought.

"It's great so far," Edward replied, "How's your head?" He pointed at her skull, still receiving the stream of music coming from her mind.

"Oh, it's great, why? Did that girl say anything about it?" Alice whispered with a huge smile, yet the pain in her eyes was evident.

_I don't know why some girls around here hate me so much_, she thought._ I never did anything to them._

She looked back up at Edward and saw the look of concern on his face. She immediately began singing in her head again.

Edward heard her thoughts and felt bad. She seemed like a really nice girl and a lot of fun, so why did that one girl, Sasha, make fun of her like that?

"Umm... yeah.. she was kinda mean about it, actually," he admitted.

"Yeah, well, it's normal around here," Alice sighed.

"Why is that?" Edward asked, interested in why she wasn't treated well in her own school.

"I'm just different I guess," Alice said nonchalantly and then added in her thoughts, _just like you_.

Edward sat perfectly still. Did she know about them? How could she? What about his powers? He couldn't shake the feeling that she was purposely disguising her thoughts from him.

The teacher came in and began writing a problem on the board, which Alice paid close attention to and focused her thoughts on. Edward knew he needed to tell his brothers about the thoughts he heard and the vibes he detected from this girl. There was something different about her and most likely her friends too.

Throughout the rest of the class, Alice and Edward answered the teacher's questions and almost competed to find the right answer first. Edward, of course, was bombarded by girls stuttering out their names and receiving tons of invitations to have him as a private tutor. He could hear Alice's sarcastic thoughts on every girl that came up to him, it was as if she knew he could hear her and was giving advice on how to handle the girl based on what Alice knew about her. If it wasn't for her, Edward was not sure he would have made it through class alive, in a manner of speaking.

* * *

In another part of the school, Bella was having no trouble forgetting about Jasper and his brothers. Bella was so into her novel that she had forgotten she was even in class and that she had a vampire in her presence. The bell rang and she slowly got up and began walking to her Government class. Alice would be there and hopefully she would be able to relax and have fun during that time, unless one of the vampires was going to be there. She did not think she would be able to get away with reading her novel in that class since the teacher walked around the room to make sure the students were paying attention.

She walked toward the building and saw Alice waiting for her by the entrance. She was bouncing up and down from excitement and Bella couldn't help but laugh at Alice's craziness. As Bella came close to her friend she could hear that Alice was humming a tune. Bella was about to ask her what song she was humming when Alice stopped suddenly. Bella stared at her, she could tell Alice was looking past her, so she thought she was experiencing another vision. She looked behind her and noticed what she was looking at, it was the new boy from her class, Jasper.

* * *

After class, Alice was ecstatic to talk to Bella in her next class about Edward. She decided to wait outside the building for her, putting the hood of her jacket on as the rain drizzled down. She hummed songs aloud, she was good at this by now since the closet was not much for doing anything else. She noticed Bella walking toward her and tried her hardest not to think about what she was going to say just in case there was a certain vampire listening in on her thoughts. She was about to yell out to Bella when she noticed him walking not too far behind her, staring straight into her eyes. It was definitely him. He was the boy from her vision. She'd recognize those eyes anywhere. She forgot to breathe and think, she even felt her heart stop at the sight of him.

* * *

Jasper was looking at his school map to find his next class. He realized he was following the nervous brunette from English. He couldn't remember finding out her name, but he could feel the unusual emotions she was emitting all throughout class. He knew from the start that she was not reading the play because she never felt what every other girl in the class was after almost every line. Perhaps, those were the kind of emotions dramatic plays brought out in girls. So he knew that this girl was most likely reading something else. Besides, he could have sworn there were moments where he felt a certain despair coming from the brunette. It was tiny, but the emotion was definitely there, a kind of gloomy, hopeless feeling.

He continued to follow her to her next class. He figured she had a similar schedule to his, just like a lot of other kids in his grade. He figured there was not much variety in classes, then again there were not a lot of people around here. It was very calming here, it wasn't boring like he first thought it would be. It was just another small town with regular people and just humans being human. Maybe one day they'll be able to move to a huge city and experience the hustle of thousands of people, but he knew that too many people would make him uneasy and he probably wouldn't even like being on the move all the time. Ever since he started living with the Cullens, he began getting used to routine. In Forks, he knew, there would be very little excitement and that was good for an empath like him. Deep down, though, he felt there just had to be something more to this vampire existence of his than just laying low and struggling against the natural urge to drink human blood.

That was when he heard it, it was a beautiful humming sound. He couldn't fight the urge to look in the direction of the source and what he saw amazed him. It was this beautiful girl with short spiky hair and a small frame. She was emitting nothing but hope, amazement, and happiness. It made him happy and he smiled at her. She quickly smiled back. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew she was someone special. It was like fate pulled the two together after all these years.

_This was it_, he thought, _she's the reason I exist._

* * *

Bella pulled Alice into the building and out of her trance. Alice laughed at Bella's way of showing discomfort at the fact that Alice was staring at someone who drank blood for a living.

"Bella, it's all right, he was the... boy i was mentioned in my last... you know," Alice explained as they sat down in their usual seats.

"I know perfectly well who he is, his name is Jasper by the way," Bella whispered and watched Alice's eyes twinkle at his name.

"Well, I hope Jasper sits next to me," Alice began, "And hopefully Edward can sit next to you."

"Edward?" Bella asked out loud.

"Yeah, he's in my Calculus class, he's one of them, I'm pretty sure he's the one that reads...," Alice pointed to her forehead. Bella nodded, slightly scared.

* * *

Jasper sadly watched as the brunette took the girl inside and out of his sight. He noticed Edward heading to the same class as him from the opposite direction. It seemed Edward was having trouble hurrying to class with girls smiling at him. Jasper laughed at the faces Edward was making, he couldn't even begin to imagine what those girls were really thinking. He gave Edward a nod once they made eye contact, the two stopped and stood outside in the rain for a moment.

_Having fun so far, Edward_? Jasper smiled at him.

"Some of these girls imagine things in too great a detail," Edward replied, sending feelings of disgust and discomfort toward Jasper.

"Anything interesting happen so far?"

"Yeah, I met this girl named Alice in my last class, I think you might like her," Edward decided to leave it at that and let Jasper find out why on his own. He walked inside as the rain began to get harder. Jasper followed him.

Edward walked into Government class first and nearly stopped in his tracks. It was as if his eyes were drawn to the brunette sitting in front of Alice. Her eyes met his and he had forgotten where he was. He felt someone nudge him inside.

_C'mon Edward_, _don't block the door,_ he heard Jasper think.

Edward walked inside, unfortunately there were no seats by Alice or her friend, but that didn't stop Alice from waving him over.

"Edward! Hey!" Alice yelled out.

_Wow, I can't believe Alice actually thinks he has a shot at him!_ Edward heard a girl think.

_He's not as desperate as you are, freak._ He heard another girl say in her head. He was now beginning to get angry at all the stupid comments people made toward his new friend. They had no reason to hate her, she was one of the most interesting, amazing people he has ever met.

"Hey, Alice," Edward walked over to them, completely ignoring the rest of the girls. Suddenly, he smelled it. He got a whiff of freesias and strawberry. He quickly covered up his mouth and nose and fought the urge to bite into her while thanking himself for making sure he had fed the night before.

_What's wrong?_ Jasper asked his brother, feeling a mixture of emotions from Bella. His vampire senses noticed Edward's eyes turn black for a split second until they returned back to their golden hue. He then realized Edward had stopped breathing.

Alice was confused by Edward's actions. She looked at him and then at Jasper who smiled sheepishly, pretending like nothing had happened. _You all right?_ he asked in thought while still smiling at Alice who beamed back.

Alice cleared her throat, "Edward... this is my friend Bella," Alice said, motioning towards her.

Bella was too scared to extend her hand toward him. It didn't seem like he wanted to smell her let alone touch her. She did not want to be rude, however, so she put her hand up as if she was about to wave and said, "Hello."

Edward simply nodded his head toward her, trying his best to maintain his self-control. "Alice, Bella... this is my brother, Jasper." He wrapped his arm around his brother and forced his best smile while making sure he didn't breathe in again. He did not even notice that he couldn't hear Bella's thoughts.

"Hi, Jasper," Alice giggled at the way he was looking at her, he looked fixated and yet very uncomfortable. She shook his hand, not flinching at how cold it was.

_He's so cute_, she thought. Edward smirked toward Jasper.

_I wish I knew what she was thinking. Edward promise me you'll tell me later on!_, Jasper nearly yelled at him in thought. Edward confirmed that he had heard him by tightening his arm around Jasper's shoulders.

"Class is about to start, you guys should go sit down. The teacher doesn't like it when people aren't in their seats once the bell rings." Alice glanced over at the empty seats three desks away.

"Thanks," Jasper whispered to her, sad that he had to walk away from such a beautiful creature.

* * *

Bella had just sat down in her Government class with a sigh. Alice sat down behind her and continued to hum her happy songs. Bella could not believe her friend was not as uncomfortable as she was, but then again Alice was never uncomfortable. Even in a household and a school full of people who thought she was a freak, Alice's extroverted and open personality never changed. Bella wished she could be more like Alice when it came to confidence in awkward situations.

Meanwhile, Bella had no idea what she was supposed to do around this Edward guy. There was no way she'd be able to not think about how uncomfortable she was around him or how she knew what he was. She noticed someone stand by the door and she looked up to see who it was. She met his topaz eyes and was struck by how magnificent they were. He had the most beautiful face and a mesmerizing presence.

She suddenly remembered what he was and looked away just as Jasper nearly pushed him inside. She was sort of glad, but also strangely disappointed that there were no empty seats next to her or Alice. After Alice waved the two vampires over, Bella felt her heart start pounding. When Edward was close enough she saw him cover his mouth and nose, she felt extremely disgusting and deeply saddened by his reaction to her. She knew she didn't smell bad, what was his problem? She knew she had to stop thinking about it and focused on something else.

* * *

As soon as Rosalie had walked out the door of her Government class, she bolted to the nearest bathroom. There was simply no way any of this could be happening. She knew never to doubt Alice's gift, but... vampires? Really? Vampires had come to their school and for what? To suck everyone dry one by one? And not only that but one of them had already taken an interest in her! Why did Emmett have to notice her? She was sure he could have whoever he wanted, but he specifically looked only at her and had asked for her number. It was almost as if he expected to find her there, as if he already knew her.

She couldn't handle all this extra stress, sooner or later she was going to have a nervous breakdown. She wanted to go, she needed to get away. But she knew she could not just disappear without making Bella and Alice worried sick. They would probably think one of the vampires got to her or that Royce came and took her out of school early for one of their "father-daughter" days. She shuddered at those memories, quickly thinking about something else in hopes that the mind-reading vampire was not nearby.

She had to survive her next class, if she managed to get through English then Biology with Alice was next and she knew Alice would make the day more bearable. She walked out of the bathroom and proceeded to her next class. She would arrive a little late, but she did not care. Time was so meaningless to her now since every second of her day consisted of the same sad feelings, bad thoughts, and unanswered questions.

She sighed as she put her hand on the doorknob of the door to her English class. She mentally prepared herself before she entered, reassuring herself that she would be just fine. She opened the door and felt her heart beat faster, her world seemed brighter as if someone had turned on the light. She did not even notice that she was smiling by now as her eyes caught his. The smile he flashed back was breathtaking and she wanted nothing more than to fall into his arms and bury her face in his broad chest. For some reason, she not only felt, but knew she would be safe there. As long as he was around, she felt untouchable.

The door swung gently shut behind her and suddenly she realized what she was doing and she got scared, she was fantasizing about something that could never be.

Rosalie cleared her throat and walked over to Emmett taking the remaining seat, which miraculously happened to be next to him. She opened her book to the page that was written on the board and tried her best to avoid looking at him.

_Emmett, _she thought_, Emmett just take me away from here. Please._

She focused on her book and read the captions in the pages just to keep those romantic thoughts away. It was all too much, she held her head in her hands going through every reassuring set of words Alice and Bella have ever told her.

"Rosalie?" she heard an angelic voice say.

"Yes?" she responded, trying her best to sound annoyed at an attempt to push him away. She shifted in her seat as if that would help her emotional discomfort.

"Are you okay? You look like something is really bothering you," he whispered in concern.

"I'm fine, Emmett, I just realized I forgot to do the homework for this class," she lied. She did not forget, she had it folded between some pages in her textbook.

"All right," Emmett gave up. He could tell something was very wrong and he did not need to be an empath or a mind-reader to notice it. He fought the urge to get up and hold her. He never felt so weak in his life, it was as if this girl had a spell on him ever since he saw her. The fact that whatever caused her to leave town last night was still bothering her deeply worried him to the point of frustration. He could not help but want to know, yet there was no way he could find out and he felt helpless for the first time in his life as a vampire. He always found a way out, he was always able to fix any situation with the use of his amazing strength and comical nature. Now, this girl had beaten him, this girl had unleashed emotions within that he could not control, yet part of him did not care, he simply wanted to help her.

He sat back in his seat, carefully observing her from the corner of his eye. If only there was something he could say or do to make her smile again. He loved the way she looked at him as she entered. After their Government class he tried to find her but she had disappeared out the door. He stood outside his next class in hopes that she would show up and they could walk in together, but she was running late. He waited until the bell rang and found two empty seats next to each other. He knew that if Rosalie did have English with him then she would have to sit next to him. So at least he had that going for him. Now that she was here, he wanted to talk to her and try to figure her out, but the Cullen charm was failing him as he stumbled to find the right words to say aloud.

Rosalie felt bad for being so mean towards him and for already telling a lie. But the truth was she was not sure if he was being genuine or not. She already had trust issues developing any kind of relationship with anyone especially the opposite sex, and now she had this sweet vampire expressing concern for her. How was she suppose to talk to him without him finding out anything. She knew he could tell something was already wrong and it was only the first day. She had no choice but to push him away and that completely SUCKED!

"Fucking... shit," the words softly escaped her lips. She closed her eyes and hoped he did not hear, but she simply could not stay there anymore. She grabbed her bag, took her homework out of her textbook and walked over to her teacher who was in the middle of discussing the material to the class. She handed him her homework and walked out the door.

The entire class was confused by the sudden burst of action and Emmett was left dumbfounded by the whole scene. She had disappeared from him again and he had no idea why.

* * *

**Please Review!**


	6. Strange Surprises

**Disclaimer: **Stephenie Meyer owns it all. I have no claim over any of her characters.

**Touching the Dark  
**

_Chapter 6  
_

Strange Surprises

* * *

Bella and Alice watched the two handsome vampires walk away from them and take their seats. Bella glanced over at Alice and Alice couldn't help but smile and wink at her. Alice's obvious happiness and excitement was really comforting at first but now Bella was beginning to get a little uneasy over it. She wasn't sure if she could trust these vampires as easily as Alice was beginning to. She noticed the look Edward gave her and it scared her but then again she found herself still wanting to get to know him. She knew from now on she had to put all her trust in Alice and simply try to go with the flow.

"So, is James going to pick you up afterschool today?" asked Alice in a low voice, she put her finger to her lips not as a way to tell Bella to keep quiet but as a way to indicate to keep any thoughts to a minimum.

"James? Oh... No, he said he had something to do in Seattle today." Bella was ecstatic about that, it meant she could relax once school was over. She didn't really care what James did on his various trips to Seattle, she was sure he was off being the man whore that he was and she would not be surprised if she was one of the many girls he had all over the place.

"Aww, well, that sucks for you." Alice tried to say with the least amount of sarcasm possible but even she could not stop the hint of relief from escaping her lips.

"Yeah, umm.." Bella looked at Edward who was staring at her in what seemed to be... disbelief? Why was he looking at her like that? She shook her head quickly to get those mesmerizing eyes out of her thoughts, "Yeah, it totally sucks," Bella said monotonously and looked ahead so it seemed like she was paying attention to the whatever it was the teacher had written on the chalkboard.

"Bella, I -" Alice began but was suddenly cut off by a vision. It was a view of Rosalie in her English class talking to a big and handsome vampire, she was obviously upset:

_"Are you okay? You look like something is really bothering you," the vampire whispered in concern as was even leaning in closer to her._

_"I'm fine, Emmett, I just realized I forgot to do the homework for this class," Rosalie responded quickly with a lie._

_"All right," Emmett sat back in his seat with a worried look on his face._

_Suddenly Rosalie got up and ran out of class. She passed by their Government class window heading toward the woods._

"Alice?" Bella had completely turned around in her seat to look at Alice. "What did you see?" she asked.

"Rosalie is in trouble," Alice quickly said and with that she got up and ran to the teacher saying she didn't feel well and had to get out.

Bella did not know what to do, if Alice had a vision of something happening to Rosalie then Bella knew she was needed. She quickly got up, grabbed her and Alice's raincoats and told the teacher she was going to help Alice get to the nurse's office. Before the teacher could respond or even comprehend what had just happened the two girls had run out the door.

* * *

Edward sat in his seat across the room from the girls. He can't believe he almost lost his control over the smell of one human girl. As a matter of fact, he still felt he could lose it, the smell was intoxicating and it made his throat burn with thirst, but he could never bring himself to bite into such a beautiful creature.

He realized Alice was talking to Bella, he could hear their conversation from across the room and did his best to drown out everyone's thoughts so he could hear clearly.

"So, is James going to pick you up afterschool today?" he heard Alice ask Bella. _Who was James? A relative... a friend... a lover?_ He did not know why but he suddenly felt discouraged and then felt that emotion get suppressed knowing that that was Jasper's doing.

Jasper was listening in on the conversation too mainly because he wanted to do his best at finding out who this Alice girl was. He was so curious about her and already addicted to her emotions. He was never the kind that smiled often but he found himself unable to stop from smiling while she was close by. He heard her whisper another boy's name to Bella followed by Edward's negative emotion, he did his best to suppress that feeling so he could focus on Alice's positive ones.

"James? Oh, no, he said he had something to do after school today." Bella replied.

_Bella seems strangely relieved to say that_, Jasper thought as he concentrated on their emotions. He immediately felt Edward's emotions lift slightly and then turn to a slight panic.

Edward was glad that Jasper sensed relief from Bella when she replied to Alice's question. It must mean that whoever this James guy was, that he was not needed like a lover would be needed. That was when he realized that he was making assumptions on Bella's thoughts, that he was not reading them like he should be.

"Something's wrong." Edward told Jasper under his breath knowing his brother would hear him.

"What is going on, Edward?" Jasper asked.

"I'm not sure, I just... can't read her thoughts." Edward strained to get into Bella's head. Was his power getting weak?

"Aww, well, that sucks for you." They heard Alice say and could hear the subtle intonation of sarcasm that no human could have picked up.

_Whose thoughts_, Edward heard his brother think.

"Bella's, I get nothing, not even a noise, this has never happened before," Edward looked at Jasper in slight astonishment. He turned back to look at Bella in complete disbelief. Who was this girl? Why was it that in a matter of less than a day he had met a girl who seemed to know he was a mind-reading vampire, another girl who smelled so incredible he almost lost control in front of a bunch of people, and the first person he had ever been unable to use his power on?

"Yeah, umm.." Bella's beautiful eyes met his. He stared at her while she broke off eye contact and shook her head. She opened her mouth again, "Yeah, it totally sucks."

"Bella, I -" Jasper and Edward shifted their gaze toward Alice who seemed to have cut herself off for some reason. At first Jasper thought it was because the teacher had looked in their direction and Alice did not want to get in trouble. However, once he felt her emotions completely shut off and make a flip into the negative side of the spectrum he knew it was something more serious. Suddenly she was worried, she worried sick. He turned to look at Edward who seemed to be lost in thought too.

Edward did not fully understand what was happening but he was suddenly getting images in his head coming from Alice. He saw a different classroom, one that Emmett was in and he was talking to the girl from the red car:

_"Are you okay? You look like something is really bothering you," Emmett whispered to the seemingly upset girl._

_"I'm fine, Emmett, I just realized I forgot to do the homework for this class," the girl responded quickly with an obvious lie._

_"All right," Emmett sat back in his seat with a worried look on his face._

_Suddenly the blond got up and ran out of class. She ran passed the window and could be seen from their own classroom._

"Edward?" Jasper was staring at his brother, "Something is seriously wrong, Alice is worried about something. I feel sick to my stomach."

"Rosalie is in trouble," They heard Alice say quickly as she got up and left the room. Bella soon followed after.

Edward shook his head and blocked out all the negative thoughts about Alice that were coming from the people in the classroom. It was impossible. What did he just see? Was this all happening right now? He looked out the window, it was pouring rain. He had no idea what was going on. Where were these girls going?

"There's so much we have to discuss tonight with Carlisle and Esme." Edward told Jasper, "I think my power is bro-" He stopped as he saw the blond run past the window exactly as he had seen it come from Alice's mind, "-ken".

_Broken?_, Jasper thought as a huge wave of negative emotions hit him like a punch to the face. He looked out the window to see Alice and Bella run past the window in the far off distance. He wanted nothing more than to go after them and help them, but there was no way he could. He had barely met these girls and besides both Edward and Emmett needed him after everything that had just occurred.

* * *

Rosalie ran as fast as she could even though the rain was pouring down hard on her. Even her raincoat wasn't keeping her from getting soaked. She was panting but there was no way she could stop. She had to get away from all of this, from everything. She just needed time to herself even though she was afraid of doing something drastic. She wanted nothing more than to fall off a cliff or impale herself on a tree but there was no way she could leave Alice and Bella behind like that. She needed to stay strong for them. They were all in this together.

_Together.. together... together_, Rosalie kept thinking to herself. She felt like she was about to collapse but she kept on going. She heard her name being cried out in the distance but she didn't dare look back without the risk of running into a tree.

She began to slow down, her heart was racing, it was beating so fast that she thought it would explode out of her chest. The rain slowed down and came to a stop. Rosalie's legs finally gave out and she collapsed onto the ground and let out a piercing screamed. She immediately felt better as she unleashed all her emotions in the deep forest. She had no idea how far into the forest she was but she apparently was able to lose the people following her since her name was no longer being cried out. She turned around in hopes to spot Bella and Alice behind her but instead she saw something huge run past her in the distance. She knew then that she had to get back and find her friends before they got hurt.

* * *

Bella tripped on a tree branch and had fallen halfway into their run. Luckily, Alice had noticed and ran back to help her up, Bella had sustained a cut on her palm, but it was nothing worse than what she was used to. They continued to run all the while Alice called out Rosalie's name in an attempt to get her to stop running.

"Rosalie!" Alice cried out. She should have seen this happen sooner but she was so wrapped up in thinking positive thoughts that her gift had failed to warn her of this event sooner. She needed to keep a clear head from now on or risk putting her friends in preventable danger.

They stopped once they saw no trace of her in the thick woods. They were glad the rain finally decided to stop so they could see their surroundings better. Where did she go? They heard a loud scream, but they couldn't tell where it came from. Alice pointed in a certain direction and Bella followed. They ran even though their bodies were beginning to give out. Suddenly they saw something huge like a bear run past them in the distance. It was incredibly fast and it made them stop in their tracks.

"Rosalie, where are you?" Bella yelled out afraid that the bear would attack Rosalie. Alice kept running in the direction that the bear was spotted.

"Alice stop!" Bella cried out and ran after her.

"Bella? Alice?" They heard a girl yell out in the distance.

"Rosalie, be careful! There's a bear!" Alice cried out.

"I know, I saw it! Just stay put, I'll come to you!" Rosalie wasn't too far away. They heard rustling and looked in the direction the noise came from.

"Rose!" Alice squealed and forced her friend into a hug. "What are you doing? Why are you running away like this?"

"I don't know," Rosalie threw her hands up in exasperation, "I just couldn't handle being in that room with Emmett anymore. It was as if everything just decided to crush me at the wrong time and I couldn't hide the pain anymore." Rosalie panted out, recovering from her run. She leaned against a tree and bent over, breathing deeply and slowly.

"Rosalie, you hide this pain all the time everyday, how could you possible break now?" Bella asked, she knew it had to be something more than just the pain of Royce.

They stood in silence for a few moments waiting for Rosalie's answer. Alice knew Bella was right, Rosalie was so much stronger than this.

"It's just," Rosalie wiped the water from her face and grunted, "Ugh... he likes me!"

Alice shook her head in disbelief, "What's wrong with that, you should be happy about it, they've come to take us away, Rose!"

"No, Alice! That's not going to happen. They're vampires, ok? VAMPIRES, they're the bad guys! They'll suck us dry and leave us for dead!" Rosalie screamed.

"You know that's not true, you're just scared of being happy, you're scared of falling in love with him. I know you like him or else you wouldn't be this upset." Alice explained.

"Alice..." Rosalie began, wishing her friend could stop being so optimistic all the time.

"She's right," Bella interrupted causing the two girls to look in her direction, "C'mon, Rose, think about it. Don't you think I would have been with Jacob a long time ago if it wasn't for James? But I can't and it sucks 'cause I lost my best friend. He was the one guy who treated me right and I had to choose to keep him safe even if it meant not talking to him anymore." She could feel the tears begin to form in her eyes. Not a day went by that Bella did not think of the good times she had with Jacob, she was so glad to see him everytime Billy and him paid a visit but they never seemed to stay for long. Of course, if James found out Jacob had stopped by, he would make Bella want to regret it, but she never could regret seeing her best friend as long as he stayed safe.

"Royce would kill him if he found out I was sneaking around with some boy from school," Rosalie said plainly, "I can't be with him."

Alice squealed in delight. Rosalie and Bella looked at her in confusion and surprise at the sudden outburst.

"You like him, I knew it!" she explained her happiness.

Rosalie laughed, which made Bella smile.

"Well.. he is pretty damn hot, that's for sure," Rosalie stated.

Alice clapped and did a little dance to express her happiness.

"But I still can't do it, even if I do find ways to sneak around with him, I have nothing to offer him. I'm not a virgin anymore, he wouldn't want me." Rosalie sat on the ground in despair.

"Just give it a chance, Rosalie. Don't make assumptions, you barely even talked to the poor guy," Alice giggled, "He must be worried sick about you by now, so you're definitely not helping him take his mind off of you."

"Haha, sorry, I kind of suck at this whole playing-hard-to-get-even-though-I-want-to-be-taken-away-by-the-hot-vampire game," Rosalie laughed.

"You should have seen the way Edward looked at Bella! He looked like he could have died all over again!" Alice teased. Rosalie looked at Bella and laughed. They heard a growling noise in the distance and looked around even though they were still smiling.

"We should start heading back, I think school is this way," Alice began to walk back to the school.

"Wait," Rosalie made Alice stop and turn around, "I'm feeling a little stupid." Rosalie smirked.

"Stupid?" Alice asked, unsure what Rosalie meant.

"Yeah, let's head deeper into the woods," Rosalie turned around and began to walk quickly.

"Deeper? But the bear -" Bella began but then saw her two friends take off deeper into the woods and Bella followed with little hesitation. They rarely got to spend time together outside of school like this and she guessed a bear wouldn't keep her friends from having fun.

That was when they realized how horrible they looked. They saw that Rosalie's shoes were full of mud and leaves her beautiful raincoat had also fallen victim to the wet forest. Bella's coat also had mud from her fall but Bella's hood had come off and her hair was a mess. It didn't matter though, they weren't trying to impress anyone, they already made their impression on the vampires anyway.

"Wow, I haven't been in the woods in ages," Alice broke the silence. Rosalie and Bella nodded in agreement. They never skipped school for a run in the woods before.

"So Edward totally likes Bella?" Rosalie continued their conversation causing Bella to blush from embarrassment.

"Yeah, I think so," Alice sang out with a giggle.

"No, he doesn't," Bella corrected them, "I don't think he likes me, he looked at me in an almost angry way and I could have sworn he hated the way I smelled. His eyes turned black for a second. He looked almost evil," Bella explained. Rosalie and Alice frowned.

"No way that boy is evil, Bella," Alice chirped, "and you know it, sometimes you just gotta stop thinking so much and follow that woman's intuition of yours, you know?"

Bella laughed, "Oh yeah, that's easy for you to say! Your guy already looks at you like he's head over heels in love!"

Rosalie looked at Alice with wide eyes and a huge smile, "Awww!" She teased her friend.

Alice kept her head up proud though, she loved the fact that Jasper liked her. It meant everything was coming true. It was hard to tease the happy pixie-haired girl when the teasing only made her happier as if it confirmed that this was all real.

The three girls continued to stroll through the woods until something made them stop. They noticed a white house, it was beautiful and it drew them closer but Rosalie grabbed Alice and Bella by the arm and told them to walk a different way. They couldn't help but look back and take a look at the beautiful house one more time before it disappeared from their view.

They continued to walk in silence for a while until they reached a beautiful meadow.

"Wow," they all gasped.

* * *

The bell rang indicating 2nd period was over. Edward and Jasper did their best to keep from running at vampire speed out the door. They slowly got up out of their chairs, Jasper realized Alice left her textbook behind. He grabbed it in hopes of seeing her again to give it back to her. He followed Edward out the door and outside into the rain. He noticed Emmett walking toward them.

"She got away," Emmett frowned, "Do you think she knows?"

Edward shrugged. For once he had no idea what was going on. He wasn't able to get a read on Bella and he had no idea what happened between him and Alice. It was because of all that he had been too shocked to read the blond's mind when she passed by.

"I'm sorry, Emmett, but we need to-" Edward began. He was going to tell Emmett what happened with his power and that they needed to go home to talk to Carlisle and Esme about what happened.

"Which way did Rosalie go?" Emmett was smelling the air for her scent but the rain must have washed a lot of it away.

Edward sighed and did what he could to help his brother. He sniffed the air amazed that he could still catch Bella's scent. It was lingering in the air as if her blood was somehow seeping out of her. He began walking in the direction, unable to steer away from the scent. His brothers followed him despite the stares and words from their fellow peers around them. They finally stopped at the end of the school grounds and looked into the woods. The rain came to a stop but the overcast still covered up the sun. They could have sworn they heard a scream come from miles away. It took Edward and Jasper all their strength to hold Emmett back from running into the woods at top speed.

"Emmett, stop, don't you smell that?" Jasper sent waves of calm to suppress Emmett's emotions of panic, fear, and worry.

They walked slowly into the woods until the school was out of view.

"It smells like a werewolf," Emmett growled.

"C'mon, Emmett, let's go home, we have lots to talk about," Edward put a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"But the-"

"Werewolves don't attack humans, if anything they came to keep an eye on us," Edward quickly said.

Emmett felt calmer thanks to Jasper's power. "Let's go then," he hesitated. The boys went back towards the car and drove home.

* * *

The girls laid down in the meadow for hours. They talked about everything they could and had never been so happy doing so. They forgot about the stresses of school and their home lives and they were finally beginning to feel at ease about the new boys at school.

"What time is it?" Bella asked, completely forgetting they were suppose to be in school this whole time.

"Well, if we start heading back now, we should be able to make it on time for last period!" Alice laughed.

"Ugh, P.E.," Bella grunted, getting up, "Let's take our time on this one," she laughed.

Rosalie laughed at Bella, "C'mon, I'll take you girls home, hopefully we can all shower without being asked a bunch of questions."

Rosalie and Alice stretched out and they all began walking back toward the school.

"I hope we can all come back to this place," Alice said, "It's so beautiful here. I felt so at peace."

"Yeah, too bad it's like an hour long walk from school," Bella moaned as she tended to the cut on her palm.

"Haha, well, it wouldn't be such a bad walk on a sunny day," Rosalie commented.

"That's it, let's do this again when it's nice out!" Alice piped up. She started bouncing and her friends could only laugh and nod their heads.

"Hmmm..." Alice thought and closed her eyes, "Yup, it's going to be beautiful on Friday, so make sure to bring your hiking shoes then."

"All right," her two friends agreed.

After several more minutes they saw the school in their sights. They stopped in their tracks when they saw a familiar face waiting in the school parking lot on his motorcycle. The sight before them was surreal, it couldn't be who they thought it was. He looked so different, but then again they haven't seen him in a long time.

"Jacob?" Bella gasped and ran up to her friend with a huge smile on her face. He wrapped her up in a bear hug and waved at Alice and Rosalie who waved back.

"What are you doing here?" Bella asked him, completely amazed at his new physique. "Have you been working out?"

"Bella, I need to talk to you, you need to come with me." Jacob said seriously, which made Bella wonder what was going on.

* * *

**Please Review!** Yeah, I know, I finally did it! I updated! I know I take forever all the time! Please don't hate me for it! Hahahaha. It's going to get really complicated from here on out so please remember to read everything carefully and tell me if something isn't clear enough. I never worked with so many characters so I'm hoping all their thoughts and feelings are well separated and the timing all makes sense and whatnot. :)


	7. Taking Notice

**Disclaimer: **Stephenie Meyer owns it all. I have no claim over any of her characters.

**Touching the Dark  
**

_Chapter 7  
_

Taking Notice

* * *

The silver Volvo screeched to a halt outside the Cullen house. Edward and his brothers bolted inside at lightning speed where Esme and Carlisle were busy making cupcakes.

"Cupcakes?" The boys questioned.

"It's for the people at work tonight, I'm taking the late shift considering that it's good to have a doctor on duty that requires no sleep to function," Carlisle smirked, expertly mixing the batter.

"Hey, aren't you boys suppose to be in school?" Esme asked, then a worried expression appeared on her face, "Did something happen?" She looked at Jasper who immediately put his hands up and shook his head.

"Hey, don't look at me, Edward was the one who almost lost his control!" Jasper grumbled, crossing his arms.

"EDWARD?" Carlisle and Esme exclaimed together and looked at their adopted son in shock.

"Yeah... Something happened but not how you think." Edward stood as still as he could as he stumbled to find the right way to explain. After a brief moment he decided to start from the beginning. "I met this girl named Alice in my first class and I could have sworn she knew about my power. She was hiding her thoughts the whole time, she was either singing or humming or concentrating on math and very loudly too. It was like she forced herself to seem happy even though I know she shouldn't be because most of the people in school think she's 'some kind of freak'." Edward used the harsh words that the other students did in order to give Esme and Carlisle the full effect of that morning.

_People think she's a freak_?, he heard Jasper think, _but she's so different... so special._

"Yeah, that's why they ostracize her," Edward whispered to his brother who sighed. He continued on with his story, "Then in the second class she introduced me to her friend, Bella, who was scared of me -"

"That's because you almost bit her, genius!" Emmett yelled out, having heard the story in the car on the drive home.

"Yes, well, I don't know why, her blood smelled..." Edward couldn't find the words again. He couldn't believe he was so inarticulate all of a sudden.

"Yeah," Jasper interjected with his side of the story, "her blood smelled different than other people. I would have lost control but I was too busy trying to see if Edward was all right."

"No, you were too busy checking out Alice!" Emmett groaned, "Esme and Carlisle are old!" He turned to his parents and quickly added in, "No offense", which caused his parents to smirk despite the fact that they were listening to a serious story, "but they know that just because we aren't human anymore that we don't think like boys. I met this super hot girl named Rosalie in my first period. It was this girl we passed by in the car last night. She drove this red BMW and she was speeding out of town. She looked very upset about something, she caused Edward and Jasper to go into power overload."

"What do you mean?" Carlisle asked, now very intrigued by everything. He guessed Forks wasn't the quiet little town it used to be last time they were there.

"Her emotions hit me harder than a pack of newborns," Jasper explained, "Whatever she was running away from...Well... I never felt so bad in my life."

"Edward, you couldn't make out any of her thoughts?" Esme questioned, her motherly instincts kicking in as she began to feel sorry for the poor girls she hadn't even met yet.

"No, she wasn't thinking clearly and her emotions disrupted her thoughts too much for me to make sense out of them, I know now that she was thinking about Alice and Bella but then she also mentioned someone who was suppose to be taking care of her but no one specific came in mind," Edward was in deep thought as he tried to remember the night before, "Although, I do remember the face of a man, he was definitely not seen in a good light like her friends but I have no idea who he might be."

"Well, seems to me like whoever this guy is, he must be the one that made this... Rosalie," Carlisle nodded toward Emmett, "so upset."

Emmett had a stoic expression on his face, he was at a loss for words yet he could feel anger boiling up inside. Why would someone want to hurt such a beautiful angel? It was hard for Emmett to understand how hurting her would even enter a person's mind. He barely met her and he already wanted to get to know her, figure her out, earn her trust, and protect her. He could tell from the way that she kept to herself during class that she wasn't a slut like that Janice girl. He could also tell she was a good friend from the way Alice and Bella sprung out of class to make sure she was okay. He knew from the car she drove and the music she listened to that she had good taste. She was already more complicated, frustrating, and intriguing than any other girl he had ever met, and it made him feel emotions that he had never felt before.

"I want to help her," Emmett announced, "I'll kill that guy if I see him."

"Emmett, you cannot do that." Esme advised, "You have to give that girl some space. I know you want to help her but I think it would be best if you earned her trust first."

"Yeah, Emmett, I want to do everything I can to help these girls but I think it is important that we make friends first." Jasper whispered and then smirked, "You do know how to be friends with a girl, don't you?"

"Hey! Of course I do!" Emmett assured. His entire family looked at him with their eyebrows raised which made Emmett look at the floor. "I'll figure it out," he said dejectedly. Everyone in the room chuckled as the truth came out.

"That's not the strangest part," Edward, looking serious again, continued to say causing Esme and Carlisle to look at him again, "The girl... Bella, I couldn't read her thoughts no matter how hard I tried. I got nothing, not even a noise or a whisper."

Carlisle's eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"Could it be that someone out there is immune to our powers?" Carlisle thought aloud. The boys and Esme stiffened at the thought.

"My powers were fine, I was able to feel what she was feeling," Jasper mentioned. Carlisle looked at the boys with his hand to his chin. He was still trying to make sense of it all.

"That's not the strangest thing," Emmett acknowledged.

"What else happened?" Esme asked. She was sitting on the kitchen counter by now seeing that this conversation was going to take longer than expected.

There was a silence in the room as the boys shifted uncomfortably. They had discussed this in the drive home and they still couldn't make sense out of it. They knew Edward was telling the truth since he seemed genuinely confused by it all. Edward let out a sigh, he knew what he was about to say wasn't going to set in easily, but it was the only thing that made sense.

"Just tell them, Edward," Jasper whispered.

Carlisle and Esme looked at their son. They were doing their best to look patient but they were really curious as to what could be stranger than what they had already been told. The silence dragged on for a moment until Edward put his hand up to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose as if to brace himself for the thoughts to come.

"We think Alice can see the future," Edward finally announced.

* * *

"Bella, I need to talk to you, you need to come with me." Jacob said seriously, which made Bella wonder what was going on. She found it so weird that so many strange things were happening in one day. She knew she told Jacob they couldn't be friends anymore and the only times they talked were to put up appearances for whenever Billy came to visit Charlie. So the fact that he was actually waiting for her outside her school meant it must be something really serious. No matter the circumstance, Bella was glad Jacob was there. She remembered when she first moved to Forks Jacob had told her many stories about his tribe during their many adventures together. He would probably be the only one who even came close to believing her if she told him who the new boys in town were.

"Yeah... sure, of course," Bella managed to let out despite her digressing thoughts. She hesitated at first but eventually got on the back of the bike.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow?" Bella looked at her two friends. She saw as Alice went deep in thought and then nodded.

"We have lots to discuss," Rosalie reminded them, "we'll figure out a way to talk. Have fun!" she added with a smile. Rosalie knew from their talk earlier that Bella missed Jacob so much that if there was ever a better moment for him to come back into her life it would be now.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Alice sang out and laughed as Bella gave her a nervous look when the motorcycle roared to life.

"Hang tight!" Jacob yelled out to Bella, "See you girls!" He smiled at them and sped away.

"Man... when did Jacob get muscles?" Rosalie looked over at Alice who was also staring at Jacob and Bella's figures in the distance.

"I don't know... but they sure look better on him than any shirt I could have ever picked out," Alice said breathlessly.

"Haha, yup, well c'mon, we have an hour to kill before you need to be home, Royce won't be home till tonight so maybe we can get some homework done at my house," Rosalie walked to her car, Alice climbed in and they sped off to Rosalie's house. Alice looked into her bag to check the damage, luckily Rosalie got her and Bella some kind of weatherproof bookbag as a present when they first became friends but that didn't mean it could not have gotten torn or dirty during their run in the woods.

Oh no, I forgot my textbook in class, ugh, oh well, hopefully someone gives it back to me in one piece tomorrow, Alice shrugged, not really making a big deal about it. She was actually more worried about something else.

_Why didn't I see Jacob coming?_ Alice finally focused on her deeper thoughts as she looked out the window, _and why did I get the vision of Rosalie so late?_

* * *

Jacob pulled up next to his garage and parked his motorcycle. He and Bella walked inside just as the rain decided to unleash itself once again.

"I have an hour before I have to get home and cook dinner for Charlie," Bella said sadly. She didn't want to leave Jacob but she was so hungry and scared of James somehow finding out she didn't go straight home afterschool.

Jacob sighed. He was hoping to have more time to say all he needed to say and to get his many questions answered.

"Okay, well, I guess I'll get right to it then," he sighed, "Bella, why did you decide to stop being my friend? Why have you been avoiding me all this time?" He asked and looked into her eyes.

Bella's breathing stopped. She knew this question would eventually come, yet she still hadn't prepared a convincing lie to answer with.

Jacob watched as Bella looked away from him. She was in deep thought, which could only mean one thing. She was trying to come up with a lie.

"Bella," he whispered but she didn't snap out of it. "Bella," he repeated, "look at me."

Bella's chocolate eyes met his. He stepped closer to her but she backed away and shook her head.

Bella felt helpless. She wanted to tell him everything but she simply couldn't. She wouldn't dare risk anyone's safety by telling someone. It was easy to tell Rosalie and Alice because they did their best to hide it. They understood Bella's pain and they also understood how important it was to keep your loved ones safe. Bella, though, felt that Rosalie and Alice had it much worse since the people hurting them were their own parents and choosing between putting your parents in jail or living a lie was a much harder situation to deal with. She felt that if she told Jacob exactly how James treated her, he would throw a fit and go after him himself. As much as she felt safe around Jacob, he couldn't protect her or her family all the time. James had tons of money and friends that were just as bad, if not worse, than him. She would not be surprised if James had backup plans set in place for whenever she decided to tell Charlie or any other authority about the abuse.

"I should go..." Bella whispered with tears in her eyes. She turned around to hide her face from him and began to walk toward the door. Jacob couldn't let her leave so with a huff he reached for Bella's upper left arm where her well hidden cut was.

"Ahh!" Bella screamed and began to hiss in pain. Jacob flinched and let her go.

"I'm sorry," he quickly apologized even though he could have sworn he didn't grab her roughly.

"It's fine, I just have to go," Bella backed towards the exit. She was holding her arm tight because she knew the blood would seep through the bandage and eventually make itself visible on her shirt.

Jacob was confused. The old Bella would have hit him back, yelled at him, done something to retaliate. She wouldn't just accept the pain and leave. She was definitely hiding thing from him and one of those things was right under her sleeve.

"Let me see," Jacob quickly ran to the door to block her.

"Jacob, no!" Bella groaned, her face showing clear signs of pain. She tried to shove him out of the way.

"Bella!" He yelled out and grabbed her by the shoulders forcing her to face him. She was still holding onto her arm.

"Let... me... see," Jacob commanded.

Bella never knew he could sound so serious. She sucked in her breath to keep the tears at bay as she put her arm down. How was she going to lie her way out of this one?

Jacob looked at her arm. He could immediately tell she was bleeding. He gently lifted the sleeve of her shirt and gasped when he saw the bandage.

"You can't blame this on me, so don't even try," he growled. He felt his blood boil, but inhaled slowly to keep his cool, "What happened?"

"You know, typical clumsy me," Bella tried to laugh but it turned into an uncertain exhale.

Jacob continued to stare at the wound, getting angrier by the second as the bloody bandage became bloodier. It didn't help that Bella actually thought she could lie her way out of this.

"Did I ever tell you that you're a horrible liar?" Jacob whispered.

"Jacob, it was an accident," she tried to explain. That part was true, James meant to push her but he did not mean to push her into a knife.

Jacob was starting to see red. He didn't like the fact that Bella was hurt and trying to hide it. It meant something happened and it wasn't due to clumsiness. He was suppose to be there to protect her! He should have been there all along but she pushed him away. He knew that was because of James. It had to be, he could tell that guy was an asshole the second he saw him. Unfortunately, Bella was too blind to see him for who he was and she told Jacob that the only reason he didn't like James was because he was afraid she would stop spending time with him. She was right, Jacob was extremely jealous when Bella found a boyfriend, but he couldn't help it. He tried spending more and more time with her in hopes of getting her to fall for him instead, but after her and James became official, she practically disappeared. There were even nights where he tried to go to her house to talk to her and she would beg him to leave her alone. Anytime he came over for a visit with Billy, she would cook, yet she would rarely ever see her eat any of it. Bella had changed so much that she no longer had that spark in her eyes. He heard about overprotective and jealous boyfriends, but this was more than that. She showed no signs of being happy.

"Where did it happen?" Jacob asked through gritted teeth, playing along with Bella's explanation.

Bella thought for a second. She had to think of something fast. He couldn't say it happened at her house because that would connect it to James. She had to choose a neutral place.

"School," she quickly said, "in P.E." James graduated the year before so they no longer went to school together. That made school a neutral enough place and everyone knew P.E. was her worst subject.

Jacob was too angry to check to see if she was lying. School? he thought. If Bella was bleeding and it happened at school then it had to be those goddamn vampires! But Sam said there was a treaty! Sam had gone with other members of the pack earlier that week to find out what was going on. There had been many vampires in the area the last few weeks and the pack thought they were going to hunt some more down. When they caught wind that the vampires had actually wanted to settle down in Forks, the pack went to hopefully scare them out of town and kill them on the outskirts. Jacob had to stay behind to protect the reservation because he was the newest addition, which pissed him off since he wanted to kill some vampires. Sam said that a man they called The Doctor had told them about a treaty he had established with the tribe long ago. Sam had heard of it, but he was unsure if The Doctor was the same vampire that had made the treaty. The Doctor understood their apprehension and allowed the wolves to patrol the woods around the area so they could see that the vampires were keeping to the treaty. They knew The Doctor and his wife were able to keep to the treaty but now they were patrolling the school to make sure their adopted sons could keep from biting others. They were suppose to keep their fangs away from humans! Now the first day that these leeches go to school, his precious Bella gets hurt.

"Fucking vampires," Jacob growled, unable to control his anger and unaware that Bella was still there. He heard her gasp and he realized what he said. He looked at her in fear, he hoped she didn't hear that.

"What did you say?" She asked, her mouth wide open.

_Shit!_, Jacob yelled in his head. "What? I said something?" He tried to play it off, his anger quickly dissipated and was replaced by anxiety.

"You know?" She cried. The smell of her blood and her thoughts were beginning to make her dizzy.

"Know?" He quickly asked. Did she know?

Bella sat on the floor, no longer being able to stand without being dizzy. She didn't know how to explain what she was asking him.

"Remember those stories you used to tell me about your tribe? The ones about the Cold Ones?" She began.

* * *

**Please Review!** Hello, everyone! No I haven't died! I know this chapter is shorter than most but I wanted to put up whatever I could to remind people that I'm still working on my stories! There's not much action here, just cliffhangers mainly because I lost my notes to the outline of the plot, so anything after these scenes are things I've forgotten or else I would have finished them. But I'll find those outlines, no worries. :P Just please review so I know you all are still reading! More chapters to come soon. Already started the next one. :)


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